Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sunday, November 16, 2008
WORLD F'ING CHAMPIONS!
Not the most original title for a post, but it fit the mood that Friday...
Where to begin...How about Wednesday night watching the conclusion of the suspended game 5? After being pissed for two days following Bud Selig's inept management of a potential World Series-clinching game, I watched a compressed version of a game. It was intense, and made what is normally a very dramatic playoff game that much more so. Every pitch, hit, inning, out seemed magnified because they only had to play 3 innings to finish it. Not more than 2 minutes after Brad Lidge was gang-tackled at the mound, Ma calls to get my reaction, which was pretty much shock. We talk for a little and she hands the phone to Pa because she was going to bed. We both watched some of the post-game festivities (I think they may have shown the crazies coming out in droves on Broad St.) and took it all in.
Next day, after I sent an email to see if anyone was thinking of going to the parade, one of my co-workers who has a season ticket package mentioned that free tickets to the Bank are available first come-first serve to season ticket holders (he got his, and tried to get extras when they went up for grabs at 3PM to the general public, but didn't get any more). He mentioned to one of my bosses that he probably wouldn't be in the next day and I said I might not be either. Fortunately, one of my Birds compadres is also a Fightin's ticket holder, but couldn't go. Three of us said that we're going and after a flurry of emails and phone calls later and it turns out that we have 4 tickets at the Bank, right field line, 4 rows from the field.
Now the punchline - we find out later that 2 of the Bank tickets have been promised to others, but we also have 2 tickets to the Club level at the Linc, so somebody's going to be the odd man out. "We'll sort it out on Friday" was the decision.
Friday morning. I go in to work to print out my ticket (all sent through email so there were multiple copies floating around) and I get a call around 9:45: "I just got a call from Rob [one of the parade-goers], he's on his way down there now and there are a LOT of people down near the stadium already. I'm going to roll the dice and drive in." The city the night before had urged people to take public transportation and our tentative plan was to meet where we do for Birds games, on Penrose Ave. off of the Schuylkill exit (free street parking about 1 1/2 miles from the stadium complex). I had emailed the rest and said I wasn't sure if I was going to drive in and park at "the spot" or take SEPTA. We agreed we were going to leave ASAP, so I checked the traffic report: "Regional rail lines are reporting delays of up to an hour". Guess I'm driving down...(best decision of the day, by the way)
After running into virtually no traffic whatsoever I pulled into a spot to park minutes before the ones nearby filled up with others who were suspicious that SEPTA could handle the passenger load. It was an hour and a half before the show would start at 20th & Market, so we crossed the street to the Penrose Diner for breakfast.
Walking down Packer Ave. towards Broad, we see a bunch of kids scurry under the 76E overpass carrying 12 packs in the open. Some cops pulled up, nailed one kid and the rest scattered through the back streets of South Philly. Mind you, once we got to Broad St., the law about carrying open alcoholic beverages pretty much was ignored, but I think the cops had to be less tolerant of the under-age imbibers.
It's strange to think of it now, but on the walk down to Broad St. it didn't seem like there were any more people there than what you'd see for a Birds game. We stopped in at Chickie & Pete's with the agreement that if it was mobbed, we would just continue walking down. There were a lot of people out front, but inside it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. A beer later, we left for the largest parade I've ever seen.
Crossing Broad St. at Packer Ave., it was obvious that this was going to be huge. Thousands of people on both sides of the street and in the median strip. People were throwing footballs around, barbequeing, drinking (of course) and getting geeked-up for the parade which had already started 4 miles north to reach there. Oh, and it was Halloween, so there was an added layer of madness to the scene, with a lot of people dressed more weirdly than usual (later on, we had the misfortune to see a really fat guy in a dress, didn't need to see that). I pointed out the line for the porta-potties and my one friend said, "Why the hell are there guys in line?!" After I said there really wasn't a lot of bushes or trees to pee in private, he said, "Who's going to care?!" It was a valid point.
After we got to what would be the end of the parade route, we doubled back to just walk around and check out the sights. One was a guy dressed in a Santa suit supposedly collecting for a charity (most likely, himself). I threw out a comment like, "Get your snowballs ready" to someone behind me, but was not proud of evoking the cliched and ancient Philadelphia fan stereotype. I got a laugh or two; nobody was going to get offended or pissed at that on a day like that.
We finally stopped somewhere near the 3rd base entrance to the Bank and had to make a decision - who was going to miss the ceremony at the Bank. We decided that we would try to trade the 2 Linc tickets for a Bank ticket, but everyone we approached was either doing the same thing or just laughed at us. Not really a surprise, but it was worth trying. My one friend manned-up and said he would go to the Linc, so I respectfully agreed (I will thank him Sunday night at the Giants game for the classy move). He was at the Monday night sham of a game, but it was very big of him to do that considering the moment.
At the Bank: For some odd reason, there were 3 sections that were closed in the 2nd level along the left field line (seems like a waste of space considering the amount of people at the parade). Also, shortly before the parade arrived, there were 2 people on the roof in right field. They quickly disappeared, so I thought they were just goofy fans. However, there were a couple of people on the left field roof as well. I mentioned this to my co-worker on Monday who was there and he said there were people on the roof throughout the playoffs and they were probably security.
Lots of kiddies were at the stadium, which was a little surprising considering it was Halloween and the enormity of the event would disrupt normal activities for the day, but given the rarity of it all, I think most if not all of these parents realized that Halloween occurs every year; Phils winning a WS does not. Of course my neurotic companion was checking his watch every 15 minutes or so, worrying that he would miss his son's 1st trick-or-treating. If it was so important, why the hell did you come down to a parade that anyone with even a passing interest in sports in this town knows will be the biggest thing in 25 years?! Ehh, I've had to hold his hand for years at Birds games when the going got rough, why should a championship parade be any different?
Speaking of kiddies at the Bank, there were a lot of parents letting their kids either sit on the fence separating the stands from the field or walk the top of the fence. I thought it was great, but was wondering when one of them would fall on the field. As it turned out, several of them were leaning against a gate to the field and spilled onto the field. No harm done, but the grounds crew couldn't lock the gate shut, so a cop on the field (there were cops stationed every 15 ft. or so along the stands) handcuffed the gate shut. I remarked to my compadre, "He might need those later...", but the general mood of the crowd wasn't violent. A woman asked one cop if he would take a photo of her kids on the fence. He obliged, and then some of his fellow officers grouped together on the field in a mock, "Now take our picture, too," way. Everything was very light-hearted, considering that the cops were there for riot-control...OK, that's a bit dramatic, they were there for security. The cops on the street had riot-control duty.
There were some women sitting next to us in the seats, I assumed, that were the ones that through miscommunication had the tickets that we thought were promised to us. I broached the subject and asked if they knew my friend who had hooked us up. They didn't, so I knew there was something amiss. I talked a little more with them and found out that they were teachers from Allentown with season tickets. I mentioned that one of our crew who declined in attending was a high school teacher who was strongly warned to not take the day off and they replied, "Oh, there are a lot of no-shows at our school today." Still trying to find the source of their tickets, I told them that the four seats we were in, including theirs, were obtained by a friend of ours whom it became apparent that they didn't know. With the cat out of the bag, the neurotic one tried calling our other buddy at the Linc, because he still had a ticket to the seat, although I kept telling him, if these other people got in, his ticket would be voided. After some conspiracy-theory nonsense as to why the Phillies would issue duplicate tickets, the rightful ticket owners show up. Tickets are checked, and lo and behold, the women sitting next to us were in the wrong seats. Ah, that explains it...
The Phils Arrive at the Linc:
Right before this happened, we gathered from the TV coverage on the big screen that the parade was near, so that there would be a great view from the upper deck of the Bank, so we raced up to see the end of the parade. I realized that the players had all departed the parade vehicles when we saw that Pat Burrell was not on the beer-wagon that he had been on since the start of the parade. Also noticed an SUV pulling into the Bank with flashing lights, probably a police vehicle with the team on board. Race back down to our seats, only to be teased with several false starts of "Make some noise!" from the big screen, anticipating the start of the show. That was annoying and insulting as hell, did they really think that people who have waited for this, in a lot of cases since they've been alive, need to be told when to stand up and cheer?! And so the show starts...
The Phils Arrive at the Bank:
The word in the crowd is that the Phils will enter via the right field gates and be driven in convertibles to parade around the field. A guy in front of me jokes to his friend, "Did you bring your tele-photo lens?" since, I'll repeat again, we are in the 4th row from the field. As it turned out, that's exactly the way it happened. Another cruel twist of fate: entering from right field, the caravan proceeded towards the right along the outfield and ended when the players were dropped off at home plate, leaving us in right field to witness the whole thing from afar. We had seen the procession in the Linc where the players there had done an entire lap of the field and it seemed as though despite the great seats we had that we were going to be left out. Well we had great close-up views of empty (except for the drivers) convertibles driving past us back to the right field gates and it seemed like the general consensus in the section we were in was, "We didn't really get to see the parade so that we could see this up close, these are the best seats we've ever had, and NOW WE WOULD HAVE A BETTER VIEW WATCHING ON TV AT HOME!" It all worked out it the end, so it was all good.
Memorable moments:
Cole Hamels tripping on his way up the stage
Charlie Manuel's awful Rocky impression - makes Pa's look good
The now legendary pronouncement from Chase Utley:
"World Champions...World Fucking Champions!!" Despite the backlash it created ("How could he say that with so many children present?"), as far as I could see, people were cracking up laughing (even the ones with the now-corrupted children). You could argue that it was not an appropriate comment, but I disagree. It has been far too long for this city to celebrate like that and that statement summed up what I think a lot of people had said the previous Wednesday or were thinking since then - ONE OF THESE FRICKIN' TEAMS FINALLY WON IT ALL!! If that is the venue that one of your children first hears the "F" word, I would let it slide. If you want to rationalize it, tell them, "Yes, he said a bad word in a moment of happiness. When you win a World Series, you can say it too."
Denouement:
Jimmy Rollins had a tough act to follow, and he said as much, before he poked at the Mets again. I hope it doesn't wind up biting him in the ass one of these days. A couple of speeches later and the team did a final victory lap, thankfully passing by the right field line so we could finally not feel like bystanders to the whole glorious event. Walking back to our cars, we weren't sure if we should take a detour from Broad St., considering the amount of people that had been there that day. We didn't, and it was like walking back from Woodstock - broken glass and trash everywhere. Amusingly, it was announced on the loudspeaker at the Bank that anyone who had a ticket for the Bank/Linc extravaganza could obtain a $10 ticket for the Sixers game that night. I think the reasoning was, "If you're going to be around the stadium complex, you're not going to be able to leave for a while so why not take in a Sixers game?" This premise turned out to be false for those of us who drove down to South Philly - not so much for the suckers who took SEPTA. It did take a while to drive from our "the spot" down to the Platt Bridge (1/4 mile maybe), but once I made the right onto 76, it was smooth sailing home.
This has taken me 2 weeks to write, as I've had other things going on, but I wanted to document this experience because while being alive for the other parades, I haven't been to one, for various reasons (too young [Flyers], lived in Seaville - too far away [Phils/Sixers]) and who knows when the next one will occur?
Where to begin...How about Wednesday night watching the conclusion of the suspended game 5? After being pissed for two days following Bud Selig's inept management of a potential World Series-clinching game, I watched a compressed version of a game. It was intense, and made what is normally a very dramatic playoff game that much more so. Every pitch, hit, inning, out seemed magnified because they only had to play 3 innings to finish it. Not more than 2 minutes after Brad Lidge was gang-tackled at the mound, Ma calls to get my reaction, which was pretty much shock. We talk for a little and she hands the phone to Pa because she was going to bed. We both watched some of the post-game festivities (I think they may have shown the crazies coming out in droves on Broad St.) and took it all in.
Next day, after I sent an email to see if anyone was thinking of going to the parade, one of my co-workers who has a season ticket package mentioned that free tickets to the Bank are available first come-first serve to season ticket holders (he got his, and tried to get extras when they went up for grabs at 3PM to the general public, but didn't get any more). He mentioned to one of my bosses that he probably wouldn't be in the next day and I said I might not be either. Fortunately, one of my Birds compadres is also a Fightin's ticket holder, but couldn't go. Three of us said that we're going and after a flurry of emails and phone calls later and it turns out that we have 4 tickets at the Bank, right field line, 4 rows from the field.
Now the punchline - we find out later that 2 of the Bank tickets have been promised to others, but we also have 2 tickets to the Club level at the Linc, so somebody's going to be the odd man out. "We'll sort it out on Friday" was the decision.
Friday morning. I go in to work to print out my ticket (all sent through email so there were multiple copies floating around) and I get a call around 9:45: "I just got a call from Rob [one of the parade-goers], he's on his way down there now and there are a LOT of people down near the stadium already. I'm going to roll the dice and drive in." The city the night before had urged people to take public transportation and our tentative plan was to meet where we do for Birds games, on Penrose Ave. off of the Schuylkill exit (free street parking about 1 1/2 miles from the stadium complex). I had emailed the rest and said I wasn't sure if I was going to drive in and park at "the spot" or take SEPTA. We agreed we were going to leave ASAP, so I checked the traffic report: "Regional rail lines are reporting delays of up to an hour". Guess I'm driving down...(best decision of the day, by the way)
After running into virtually no traffic whatsoever I pulled into a spot to park minutes before the ones nearby filled up with others who were suspicious that SEPTA could handle the passenger load. It was an hour and a half before the show would start at 20th & Market, so we crossed the street to the Penrose Diner for breakfast.
Walking down Packer Ave. towards Broad, we see a bunch of kids scurry under the 76E overpass carrying 12 packs in the open. Some cops pulled up, nailed one kid and the rest scattered through the back streets of South Philly. Mind you, once we got to Broad St., the law about carrying open alcoholic beverages pretty much was ignored, but I think the cops had to be less tolerant of the under-age imbibers.
It's strange to think of it now, but on the walk down to Broad St. it didn't seem like there were any more people there than what you'd see for a Birds game. We stopped in at Chickie & Pete's with the agreement that if it was mobbed, we would just continue walking down. There were a lot of people out front, but inside it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. A beer later, we left for the largest parade I've ever seen.
Crossing Broad St. at Packer Ave., it was obvious that this was going to be huge. Thousands of people on both sides of the street and in the median strip. People were throwing footballs around, barbequeing, drinking (of course) and getting geeked-up for the parade which had already started 4 miles north to reach there. Oh, and it was Halloween, so there was an added layer of madness to the scene, with a lot of people dressed more weirdly than usual (later on, we had the misfortune to see a really fat guy in a dress, didn't need to see that). I pointed out the line for the porta-potties and my one friend said, "Why the hell are there guys in line?!" After I said there really wasn't a lot of bushes or trees to pee in private, he said, "Who's going to care?!" It was a valid point.
After we got to what would be the end of the parade route, we doubled back to just walk around and check out the sights. One was a guy dressed in a Santa suit supposedly collecting for a charity (most likely, himself). I threw out a comment like, "Get your snowballs ready" to someone behind me, but was not proud of evoking the cliched and ancient Philadelphia fan stereotype. I got a laugh or two; nobody was going to get offended or pissed at that on a day like that.
We finally stopped somewhere near the 3rd base entrance to the Bank and had to make a decision - who was going to miss the ceremony at the Bank. We decided that we would try to trade the 2 Linc tickets for a Bank ticket, but everyone we approached was either doing the same thing or just laughed at us. Not really a surprise, but it was worth trying. My one friend manned-up and said he would go to the Linc, so I respectfully agreed (I will thank him Sunday night at the Giants game for the classy move). He was at the Monday night sham of a game, but it was very big of him to do that considering the moment.
At the Bank: For some odd reason, there were 3 sections that were closed in the 2nd level along the left field line (seems like a waste of space considering the amount of people at the parade). Also, shortly before the parade arrived, there were 2 people on the roof in right field. They quickly disappeared, so I thought they were just goofy fans. However, there were a couple of people on the left field roof as well. I mentioned this to my co-worker on Monday who was there and he said there were people on the roof throughout the playoffs and they were probably security.
Lots of kiddies were at the stadium, which was a little surprising considering it was Halloween and the enormity of the event would disrupt normal activities for the day, but given the rarity of it all, I think most if not all of these parents realized that Halloween occurs every year; Phils winning a WS does not. Of course my neurotic companion was checking his watch every 15 minutes or so, worrying that he would miss his son's 1st trick-or-treating. If it was so important, why the hell did you come down to a parade that anyone with even a passing interest in sports in this town knows will be the biggest thing in 25 years?! Ehh, I've had to hold his hand for years at Birds games when the going got rough, why should a championship parade be any different?
Speaking of kiddies at the Bank, there were a lot of parents letting their kids either sit on the fence separating the stands from the field or walk the top of the fence. I thought it was great, but was wondering when one of them would fall on the field. As it turned out, several of them were leaning against a gate to the field and spilled onto the field. No harm done, but the grounds crew couldn't lock the gate shut, so a cop on the field (there were cops stationed every 15 ft. or so along the stands) handcuffed the gate shut. I remarked to my compadre, "He might need those later...", but the general mood of the crowd wasn't violent. A woman asked one cop if he would take a photo of her kids on the fence. He obliged, and then some of his fellow officers grouped together on the field in a mock, "Now take our picture, too," way. Everything was very light-hearted, considering that the cops were there for riot-control...OK, that's a bit dramatic, they were there for security. The cops on the street had riot-control duty.
There were some women sitting next to us in the seats, I assumed, that were the ones that through miscommunication had the tickets that we thought were promised to us. I broached the subject and asked if they knew my friend who had hooked us up. They didn't, so I knew there was something amiss. I talked a little more with them and found out that they were teachers from Allentown with season tickets. I mentioned that one of our crew who declined in attending was a high school teacher who was strongly warned to not take the day off and they replied, "Oh, there are a lot of no-shows at our school today." Still trying to find the source of their tickets, I told them that the four seats we were in, including theirs, were obtained by a friend of ours whom it became apparent that they didn't know. With the cat out of the bag, the neurotic one tried calling our other buddy at the Linc, because he still had a ticket to the seat, although I kept telling him, if these other people got in, his ticket would be voided. After some conspiracy-theory nonsense as to why the Phillies would issue duplicate tickets, the rightful ticket owners show up. Tickets are checked, and lo and behold, the women sitting next to us were in the wrong seats. Ah, that explains it...
The Phils Arrive at the Linc:
Right before this happened, we gathered from the TV coverage on the big screen that the parade was near, so that there would be a great view from the upper deck of the Bank, so we raced up to see the end of the parade. I realized that the players had all departed the parade vehicles when we saw that Pat Burrell was not on the beer-wagon that he had been on since the start of the parade. Also noticed an SUV pulling into the Bank with flashing lights, probably a police vehicle with the team on board. Race back down to our seats, only to be teased with several false starts of "Make some noise!" from the big screen, anticipating the start of the show. That was annoying and insulting as hell, did they really think that people who have waited for this, in a lot of cases since they've been alive, need to be told when to stand up and cheer?! And so the show starts...
The Phils Arrive at the Bank:
The word in the crowd is that the Phils will enter via the right field gates and be driven in convertibles to parade around the field. A guy in front of me jokes to his friend, "Did you bring your tele-photo lens?" since, I'll repeat again, we are in the 4th row from the field. As it turned out, that's exactly the way it happened. Another cruel twist of fate: entering from right field, the caravan proceeded towards the right along the outfield and ended when the players were dropped off at home plate, leaving us in right field to witness the whole thing from afar. We had seen the procession in the Linc where the players there had done an entire lap of the field and it seemed as though despite the great seats we had that we were going to be left out. Well we had great close-up views of empty (except for the drivers) convertibles driving past us back to the right field gates and it seemed like the general consensus in the section we were in was, "We didn't really get to see the parade so that we could see this up close, these are the best seats we've ever had, and NOW WE WOULD HAVE A BETTER VIEW WATCHING ON TV AT HOME!" It all worked out it the end, so it was all good.
Memorable moments:
Cole Hamels tripping on his way up the stage
Charlie Manuel's awful Rocky impression - makes Pa's look good
The now legendary pronouncement from Chase Utley:
"World Champions...World Fucking Champions!!" Despite the backlash it created ("How could he say that with so many children present?"), as far as I could see, people were cracking up laughing (even the ones with the now-corrupted children). You could argue that it was not an appropriate comment, but I disagree. It has been far too long for this city to celebrate like that and that statement summed up what I think a lot of people had said the previous Wednesday or were thinking since then - ONE OF THESE FRICKIN' TEAMS FINALLY WON IT ALL!! If that is the venue that one of your children first hears the "F" word, I would let it slide. If you want to rationalize it, tell them, "Yes, he said a bad word in a moment of happiness. When you win a World Series, you can say it too."
Denouement:
Jimmy Rollins had a tough act to follow, and he said as much, before he poked at the Mets again. I hope it doesn't wind up biting him in the ass one of these days. A couple of speeches later and the team did a final victory lap, thankfully passing by the right field line so we could finally not feel like bystanders to the whole glorious event. Walking back to our cars, we weren't sure if we should take a detour from Broad St., considering the amount of people that had been there that day. We didn't, and it was like walking back from Woodstock - broken glass and trash everywhere. Amusingly, it was announced on the loudspeaker at the Bank that anyone who had a ticket for the Bank/Linc extravaganza could obtain a $10 ticket for the Sixers game that night. I think the reasoning was, "If you're going to be around the stadium complex, you're not going to be able to leave for a while so why not take in a Sixers game?" This premise turned out to be false for those of us who drove down to South Philly - not so much for the suckers who took SEPTA. It did take a while to drive from our "the spot" down to the Platt Bridge (1/4 mile maybe), but once I made the right onto 76, it was smooth sailing home.
This has taken me 2 weeks to write, as I've had other things going on, but I wanted to document this experience because while being alive for the other parades, I haven't been to one, for various reasons (too young [Flyers], lived in Seaville - too far away [Phils/Sixers]) and who knows when the next one will occur?
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Onward Music Soldiers
Went to Wayne Shorter show on Friday night. (Boy went too, was well-behaved but fidgety during second half. He sat through and enjoyed almost 2 hours of jazz with only 1 small intermission! We fueled him with chocolate ice cream. He clapped enthusiastically!)
Here is a review I posted on Kimmel Center blog: http://blog.kimmelcenter.org/archives/2008/03/wayne_shorter_q.html
"Terell Stafford's group was very nice, textbook jazz performance. They were excellent.
Wayne and company perform in the free yet together style of Miles 60's quintet. They were always on the same page yet roamed wherever they wanted to go. This type of playing is not for everybody but should have been expected by anyone attending as it was what one hears on Beyond the Sound Barrier and Footprints Live. I too wish he would play some of his classic heads of the 60's Blue Note albums (I think I heard a snippet of Ju-Ju) but am happy to hear 4 great players play with one mind for 45-50 minutes. The encore seemed to be a written out piece that was new to me and extremely weird (pianist had a 6-7 page chart laid out). Maybe a new composition from Wayne. Although Wayne is one of the best and most innovative jazz composers of the 20th century, (see 60's Blue Note + 60's Miles Quintet albums. There are an unbelievable number of unique, strange compositions) this show was Wayne the improviser playing acoustic jazz on the edge which unfortunatly many listeners find difficult to listen to.They don't do head, solo, head; they spontaneously compose as a group the whole time, yet they are always together and in sync. This is an incredible ability not matched since the Davis/Shorter/Hancock/Carter/Williams band did it.
A great show."
The other opinions (all 3) didn't seem to go for Wayne's set and there were many walkouts.
I was transfixed and highly entertained.
So it must be that this type of playing is only interesting to other musicians, even specifically Jazz musicians. Even amongst that small category there is probably those that wouldn't go for Wayne's set.
Is it a case of science for scientists or are there other reasons people don't always 'get' it?
What is the future of jazz if the furthest types of reaching away from 'standard' ways of playing aren't dug by the audience?
Maybe everyone is just a little behind and one day a recording of that show will sell like hotcakes and the folks who walked out will say proudly, "I Was There! Wow, what a crazy scene it was!"
I empathize with those that find it bewildering to listen to because it is Hard to listen on the intensity level that they are playing. (And being prepared by having no preconceived expectations except that they will play what they play...and familiar with all recent recordings)
For those interested in Wayne's work I recommend:
Beyond the Sound Barrier (2003)- Exactly the style of playing that we heard on friday. same band. 'tunes' are entirely made up on the spot or loosely structured around a worked out theme or 'song'.
JuJu (1964)- 6 great tunes played in the standard head, solo, head way but with crazy chord changes and great players. Almost all tunes are in the real book.
Speak No Evil (1964)- same as above except a few different but great players and trumpet. Recorded on xmas eve, 1964.
Adam's Apple (1966), Night Dreamer (1964 yes 3 albums that year), The All Seeing Eye, Etcetera, The Soothsayer(1965 four albums that year counting ESP) Schizophrenia (1967)- These all contain exclusivly Wayne's tunes except for an odd 2 or 3 by other band members. All recommended.
All albums by Miles Davis Quintet between 1964-1968. ESP, Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, Filles De Kilimanjaro. Anything live by that band contain the roots of this style of playing...
Also,
High Life (1995) a funk and r&b album of highly composed music. lots of keyboard orchestration.
Footprints Live (2001) Wayne plays his tunes from the sixties with three great players in strange new arrangements.
Here is a review I posted on Kimmel Center blog: http://blog.kimmelcenter.org/archives/2008/03/wayne_shorter_q.html
"Terell Stafford's group was very nice, textbook jazz performance. They were excellent.
Wayne and company perform in the free yet together style of Miles 60's quintet. They were always on the same page yet roamed wherever they wanted to go. This type of playing is not for everybody but should have been expected by anyone attending as it was what one hears on Beyond the Sound Barrier and Footprints Live. I too wish he would play some of his classic heads of the 60's Blue Note albums (I think I heard a snippet of Ju-Ju) but am happy to hear 4 great players play with one mind for 45-50 minutes. The encore seemed to be a written out piece that was new to me and extremely weird (pianist had a 6-7 page chart laid out). Maybe a new composition from Wayne. Although Wayne is one of the best and most innovative jazz composers of the 20th century, (see 60's Blue Note + 60's Miles Quintet albums. There are an unbelievable number of unique, strange compositions) this show was Wayne the improviser playing acoustic jazz on the edge which unfortunatly many listeners find difficult to listen to.They don't do head, solo, head; they spontaneously compose as a group the whole time, yet they are always together and in sync. This is an incredible ability not matched since the Davis/Shorter/Hancock/Carter/Williams band did it.
A great show."
The other opinions (all 3) didn't seem to go for Wayne's set and there were many walkouts.
I was transfixed and highly entertained.
So it must be that this type of playing is only interesting to other musicians, even specifically Jazz musicians. Even amongst that small category there is probably those that wouldn't go for Wayne's set.
Is it a case of science for scientists or are there other reasons people don't always 'get' it?
What is the future of jazz if the furthest types of reaching away from 'standard' ways of playing aren't dug by the audience?
Maybe everyone is just a little behind and one day a recording of that show will sell like hotcakes and the folks who walked out will say proudly, "I Was There! Wow, what a crazy scene it was!"
I empathize with those that find it bewildering to listen to because it is Hard to listen on the intensity level that they are playing. (And being prepared by having no preconceived expectations except that they will play what they play...and familiar with all recent recordings)
For those interested in Wayne's work I recommend:
Beyond the Sound Barrier (2003)- Exactly the style of playing that we heard on friday. same band. 'tunes' are entirely made up on the spot or loosely structured around a worked out theme or 'song'.
JuJu (1964)- 6 great tunes played in the standard head, solo, head way but with crazy chord changes and great players. Almost all tunes are in the real book.
Speak No Evil (1964)- same as above except a few different but great players and trumpet. Recorded on xmas eve, 1964.
Adam's Apple (1966), Night Dreamer (1964 yes 3 albums that year), The All Seeing Eye, Etcetera, The Soothsayer(1965 four albums that year counting ESP) Schizophrenia (1967)- These all contain exclusivly Wayne's tunes except for an odd 2 or 3 by other band members. All recommended.
All albums by Miles Davis Quintet between 1964-1968. ESP, Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, Filles De Kilimanjaro. Anything live by that band contain the roots of this style of playing...
Also,
High Life (1995) a funk and r&b album of highly composed music. lots of keyboard orchestration.
Footprints Live (2001) Wayne plays his tunes from the sixties with three great players in strange new arrangements.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Why I Do Not Watch American Idol
Ok, so I'm a social retard. I do not watch this show, like millions of other people do (maybe some of you). I have caught glimpses of it, 5 minutes here and there and of course have seen all the commercials - but I have not watched an episode all the way through. People (co-workers, parents of my students, etc.) assume since I am a musician that this would be a show I would really be into. But I refuse to support this program, and have several valid reasons which I think supercede any entertanment value the show might have.
1. As I mentioned in my previous comment to Jeff's post Music Theory Discussion, the music industry already controls so much of what we as Americans get to hear. The public gets to "vote" on A.I. for which singers they like best, but... the choices are already narrowed down to a select few that the judges think are "the cream of the crop", and frankly they all sing with pretty similar vocal style. Singers such as John Lennon, Robert Plant, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Freddy Mercury, Sting, Kurt Kobain, Rod Stewart, Steven Tyler, Neil Young, David Bowie, Roger Waters, Stevie Nicks, even swing or jazz singers like Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, etc. who have/had very unique vocal styles and who were known for other reasons such as their expressiveness/soulfulness/phrasing and/or their song writing abilities, would have been left out of the running. Regardless of how you feel about any/all of these musicians (there are a few that I personally am not nuts about myself, or at least not about their music), where would American music history be today if people like Simon Cowell (who, in a 60 Minutes inteview I heard of him, freely admits he knows absolutely nothing about music) were the only ones who got do decide what we hear in the first place? Maybe there's somebody else out there who has a really unique style and has something new to say, that Americans never get to hear because Simon et. al decide that's not what Americans want to hear? Should we let these frauds be making our choices for us?
2. The whole attitude promoted by A.I., that only "the best" are worth hearing, is a very upsetting attitude to me as a music educator. Educational and musical research has shown that EVERYONE is musical to some extent, and that all people, unless they have a severe vocal disability, can learn to sing and improve their singing and musical abilities with enough and the right types of experiences. Now, TV and society (big influences in children's lives) is telling kids and adults that only a select few are worth hearing, and if you're not one of the select, you may as well not even try because you're going to be shot down and made fun of for entertainment's sake. Some of the people who are ridiculed may actually have some potential, if they get some more training or practice more. And there are probably hundreds or even thousands more that we don't ever get to see (because they weren't funny enough to put on the show, or they weren't good enough to be top finalists) who might be great and have lots of potential, but the show doesn't focus on those people. I think the show sets a horrible example for children as far as what is musical and who can be musical. A hundred years ago, music was something that we all owned. People sang, played guitar, fiddle, piano, etc. sitting around their houses to entertain themselves and their family. Some people had lessons, some people taught themselves. They did it because they enjoyed making music, not because they wanted to impress people or become famous. Today, a handful of people are musicians and the rest are consumers of music. If this attitude existed a century ago, then there would be NO FOLK MUSIC. NO BLUES. NO JAZZ. NO ROCK AND ROLL All these styles of music were begun by people who played and sang just for the hell of it, because they had something to say and they didn't care who heard it - and or course they got better because they kept playing/singing. Music should still belong to the people, not to the industry. I don't want some show telling my students and their parents that they shouldn't bother making music because they currently don't happen to be the best in America.
3. Art and taste/opinion in art is subjective and should not be voted for or ranked. We shouldn't need a scoring system to tell us what is good or bad, we should be able to make those choices on our own. I think that the idea of voting for one musician (or any other type of artist) over another - and then, if the one you voted for wins, it validates your opinion - actually interferes with the process of Americans developing their own musical tastes. You might like something, but... well, it lost, so your opinion was WRONG because the majority doesn't agree with you. It's fine to like one thing over another - that's part of what makes us unique as people - but IMHO to have a VOTE on something subjective like this is just wrong. A lot of artists weren't appreciated in their own lifetimes - people's tastes change, and YOUR OPINION, if it's different from others', may be ahead of its time. If we place too much emphasis on what is popular now, then music and art will never go anywhere. It's not a valid indicator of what is actually good, it's a popularliry contest. What if we had American Idol in the 40's and early 50's? We'd probably never get to hear any rock and roll, we'd probably all still be listening to Perry Como and Bing Crosby. How about in the 1800's? Minstrel show music was really popular back then all over the US!!!!! So, if racism and cultural sterotype is popular, should we vote on that too and give it cultural validation when it wins?
I could say more but I think I've made my point. American Idol is limiting the music industry and is stunting Americans' musical growth.
1. As I mentioned in my previous comment to Jeff's post Music Theory Discussion, the music industry already controls so much of what we as Americans get to hear. The public gets to "vote" on A.I. for which singers they like best, but... the choices are already narrowed down to a select few that the judges think are "the cream of the crop", and frankly they all sing with pretty similar vocal style. Singers such as John Lennon, Robert Plant, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Freddy Mercury, Sting, Kurt Kobain, Rod Stewart, Steven Tyler, Neil Young, David Bowie, Roger Waters, Stevie Nicks, even swing or jazz singers like Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, etc. who have/had very unique vocal styles and who were known for other reasons such as their expressiveness/soulfulness/phrasing and/or their song writing abilities, would have been left out of the running. Regardless of how you feel about any/all of these musicians (there are a few that I personally am not nuts about myself, or at least not about their music), where would American music history be today if people like Simon Cowell (who, in a 60 Minutes inteview I heard of him, freely admits he knows absolutely nothing about music) were the only ones who got do decide what we hear in the first place? Maybe there's somebody else out there who has a really unique style and has something new to say, that Americans never get to hear because Simon et. al decide that's not what Americans want to hear? Should we let these frauds be making our choices for us?
2. The whole attitude promoted by A.I., that only "the best" are worth hearing, is a very upsetting attitude to me as a music educator. Educational and musical research has shown that EVERYONE is musical to some extent, and that all people, unless they have a severe vocal disability, can learn to sing and improve their singing and musical abilities with enough and the right types of experiences. Now, TV and society (big influences in children's lives) is telling kids and adults that only a select few are worth hearing, and if you're not one of the select, you may as well not even try because you're going to be shot down and made fun of for entertainment's sake. Some of the people who are ridiculed may actually have some potential, if they get some more training or practice more. And there are probably hundreds or even thousands more that we don't ever get to see (because they weren't funny enough to put on the show, or they weren't good enough to be top finalists) who might be great and have lots of potential, but the show doesn't focus on those people. I think the show sets a horrible example for children as far as what is musical and who can be musical. A hundred years ago, music was something that we all owned. People sang, played guitar, fiddle, piano, etc. sitting around their houses to entertain themselves and their family. Some people had lessons, some people taught themselves. They did it because they enjoyed making music, not because they wanted to impress people or become famous. Today, a handful of people are musicians and the rest are consumers of music. If this attitude existed a century ago, then there would be NO FOLK MUSIC. NO BLUES. NO JAZZ. NO ROCK AND ROLL All these styles of music were begun by people who played and sang just for the hell of it, because they had something to say and they didn't care who heard it - and or course they got better because they kept playing/singing. Music should still belong to the people, not to the industry. I don't want some show telling my students and their parents that they shouldn't bother making music because they currently don't happen to be the best in America.
3. Art and taste/opinion in art is subjective and should not be voted for or ranked. We shouldn't need a scoring system to tell us what is good or bad, we should be able to make those choices on our own. I think that the idea of voting for one musician (or any other type of artist) over another - and then, if the one you voted for wins, it validates your opinion - actually interferes with the process of Americans developing their own musical tastes. You might like something, but... well, it lost, so your opinion was WRONG because the majority doesn't agree with you. It's fine to like one thing over another - that's part of what makes us unique as people - but IMHO to have a VOTE on something subjective like this is just wrong. A lot of artists weren't appreciated in their own lifetimes - people's tastes change, and YOUR OPINION, if it's different from others', may be ahead of its time. If we place too much emphasis on what is popular now, then music and art will never go anywhere. It's not a valid indicator of what is actually good, it's a popularliry contest. What if we had American Idol in the 40's and early 50's? We'd probably never get to hear any rock and roll, we'd probably all still be listening to Perry Como and Bing Crosby. How about in the 1800's? Minstrel show music was really popular back then all over the US!!!!! So, if racism and cultural sterotype is popular, should we vote on that too and give it cultural validation when it wins?
I could say more but I think I've made my point. American Idol is limiting the music industry and is stunting Americans' musical growth.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Music Theory Discussion
Due to the popularity of a recent email, I refer it to this blog.
My intent is purely to get people to WRITE MUSIC.
Talk is good, notes are better.
Styles aren't boundaries, they are all different 'countries' in the 'world' of music.
And you can make Chinese Tacos With Linguine!
Corporations seek to categorize art so they can sell it, not improve it. They are the problem in more ways than one.
my next sentence is this: (hope this works)
http://www.jeffnowmos.com/03%20-%20three.mp3
Original Email:
quotes from Brahms about composition.
http://members.aol.com/dmarko1/brahms/composition.htm
"You must learn how to work. You must write a lot, day after day, and not think that what you are writing always has to be something significant. As far as songs go, you will write many songs before a usable one emerges. "
keep blank paper by piano.
in 10-20 minute session I write down 3-4 ideas. don't judge the ideas, you could hate it but write it down.
seen a week later they look like something someone else wrote for you.
(not everyday)
then don't be afraid to edit heavily:
"You should not always trust your ideas. The pen is not only for writing, but also for deleting. But be very cautious. Once something has been written down it is hard to get rid of. But if you have come to the conclusion that it will not do; even if it's good in itself- then don't think about it for long; simply strike it out!"
My intent is purely to get people to WRITE MUSIC.
Talk is good, notes are better.
Styles aren't boundaries, they are all different 'countries' in the 'world' of music.
And you can make Chinese Tacos With Linguine!
Corporations seek to categorize art so they can sell it, not improve it. They are the problem in more ways than one.
my next sentence is this: (hope this works)
http://www.jeffnowmos.com/03%20-%20three.mp3
Original Email:
quotes from Brahms about composition.
http://members.aol.com/dmarko1/brahms/composition.htm
"You must learn how to work. You must write a lot, day after day, and not think that what you are writing always has to be something significant. As far as songs go, you will write many songs before a usable one emerges. "
keep blank paper by piano.
in 10-20 minute session I write down 3-4 ideas. don't judge the ideas, you could hate it but write it down.
seen a week later they look like something someone else wrote for you.
(not everyday)
then don't be afraid to edit heavily:
"You should not always trust your ideas. The pen is not only for writing, but also for deleting. But be very cautious. Once something has been written down it is hard to get rid of. But if you have come to the conclusion that it will not do; even if it's good in itself- then don't think about it for long; simply strike it out!"
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
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